Community reporting: ‘These stories are at the heart of modern Britain’

As a young black writer, I feared being pigeonholed as a race reporter'. Now I see my role as vital to the national narrative

When I started my training to be a journalist eight years ago, I didn't want to be a black reporter who only reported on race. I was interested in the topic, but when people spoke of ambitious beats, they pointed to politics, finance, and culture. I wanted to be on the biggest stories of the day and was scared of being pigeonholed.

I started as a science journalist before switching to general news and loved the breadth of stories I worked on, both in the UK and internationally. But whenever I was asked what I wanted to specialise in, I didn't have a clear answer. That changed once coronavirus spread across the UK and the biggest story of the year was right at my doorstep.